most wallet friendly way to lift the front of a 1993 xlt

[sofarstock]

Ok i had a friend of mine give me some blocks 3" and adjustable brackets that lowers the leaf springs both will probly give me about 4.5-5.5 inches of lift in the back i think anyway,, my ques is though i have a 1993 exp xlt and it has the semi independant front i guess thats what you call it and i was wondering what the cheapest way to lift the front to be semi level with the back would be,, the exp is an every day driver gettin me to and from school but everyonce in a while i like to drive down to the quad trails and mess around a little bit and or to get some fire wood, also what size tires & what shocks would be a good choice ?? any help would be great thnx

 

[Robb]

The cheapest way for the front is using 2wd F150 coil spacers. As far as the blocks go............your rear is SUA (sprung under), so blocks will actually lower your truck.

Robb

 

[dnellans]

On your ex the leaf packs go under the rear axle so blocking them would actually lower your explorer.

i'm not sure what you mean by "bracket" but if it is anything like the warrior 153 shackles that many of use use you'll get an inch and a half or two out of those. Search to find more info about these.

There is no "cheap" way to get 4.5-5.5 inches of lift out of a truck, however if you only want about 2 inches of lift you can install f150 coil spacers in the front to gain 1 5/8 inches which would level out the shackles or add a leaf you install in the rear. that whole set up will cost you about $30-40 for the spacers up front and $50-60 for shackles in the rear, or $30-$60 for add-a-leafs in the rear depending on brand and if you go short or long.

so for less than $200 you can lift your x about 1.5 to 2 inches. but don't forget you'll need an alignment that involves camber bushings which will cost you about $125-175 depending on the shop afterwards.

hope that gives you a frame of reference at least
dave

 

[sofarstock]

thanks for the info i probly should of checked the exp out more before i started askin away, with a 2" lift what size tires would fit for good ground clearence? im not worriend about tryin to put big ass boggers on yet i just would like some more clearence,, this is probly a dumb ques but is it poss. flip around the axle and spring pack so the leafs are on the top,, if it is poss wouldnt that give me some lift,, i havnt looked under the exp to much some im not sure how the susp is set up thnx

 

[dnellans]

You can do a spring over axle mod (SOA) which gives you about 3-4 inches of lift i believe. To get that kind of lift out of your front end however you have to get drop brackets and other fancy things that are NOT easy on the wallet. if you are just starting out assuming you have something similar to the stock 225/70ish/r15s on there doing coil spacers / shackles will give you about 1.5-2 inches of suspension lift, and then going to 31ish tires on your stock rims will give you another inch of clearance. most 225/70ish/r15 tires are about 29 inches in diameter. this is by FAR the cheapest way to do a bit of lift before dropping the big bucks for a 4-6 inch lift.

d

 

[sofarstock]

oo yeah i forgot to mention the things i were talking about lowering to leafs are like shackles i guess but there just bars of steel with holes drilled in the to i guess do the same thing?? im fairly new at lifting im used to quads and dirtbikes and this is my first time messin with a trucks susp. if i did the axle flip and put on the shackles what kind of cash would i have to be spending to get drop brackets ect for the front thnx for the help

 

[Robb]

If you did a SOA (spring over axle) on the rear, you would actually end up with about 5.5" of lift. To even this out in the front, you would have to use a susp. lift.

Robb

 

[X-1]

You can not go any higher in the front than 3 inches with out drop brackets, for the spring over in rear you would have to raise the front 5-6 inches, just a front kit runs about 6-700 bucks, unless you buy used from someone, I would toss what you got, and go with the superlift 5.5 lift, it will give you both front and rear lift for the least amount of money. If low buck is what you are looking for, then skyjacker makes a 2 inch lift for under 200 bucks, that is a really good starting point.

 

[Exploder Boy]

That Skyjacker lift is nice, i have it and with 32's i have 4.5" of total lift. Fairly straight forward too, coils and add a leafs. I recommend it!